1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote site managing system for remotely and comprehensively monitoring states of PC/server devices such as a general-purpose personal computer (PC) or a server computer connected via a computer network or the like and also states of peripheral devices serving as input/output devices such as a printer, a copying machine, and a scanner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system is known which is installed in an office to acquire information about an operation of a device installed in the office and also error information, log information, etc., thereof, to monitor and manage the device. It is also known to transmit, via a network, such information acquired in an office to a center server installed outside the office in order to monitor and manage the information thereby.
However, the known monitoring/managing system has the capability of monitoring or managing either only PC/server devices, that is, general-purpose computers, or only peripheral devices such as a printer or a copying machine.
This is because there is a large difference between the management procedure for general-purpose computers and that for peripheral devices. More specifically, to manage general-purpose computers, it is required that a program be written so as to provide a desired function depending upon a computer environment such as an operation system and the program be executed on a computer which is also managed by the managing system. In contrast, in the case of peripheral devices, it is practically impossible to add or modify a function.
Besides, in the case of peripheral devices, there are no standards for data formats and communication protocols for use by a monitoring/managing system in communicating with a peripheral device. Therefore, it is required to develop a management procedure for each peripheral device. Thus, each peripheral device is separately connected to a managing site system and separately managed.
As described above, the conventional management system for managing peripheral devices and that for managing PC/servers cannot be integrated into a single system, and they are used absolutely separately.
It is becoming increasingly popular to use both types of devices, that is, PC/servers and peripheral devices in an office, and thus there is a need for a technique for integrally monitoring and managing all those devices and performing maintenance service upon them.
However, to monitor and manage, using the conventional technique, both a PC/server and a peripheral device installed in an office, it is required for a service company (managing site) to install both systems for separately monitoring and managing the respective types of devices, wherein it is required to acquire information about the respective types of devices via separate communication lines. Therefore, the maintenance company has to perform a complicated management process, and high operating and running costs are needed.